Support for hinged or other movable members.



G. VALLONB. SUPPORT FOR HINGED OR OTHER MOVABLE lsahntnsEnsi APPLICATIONFILED 17110.11, 1909.

' Patented Mar. 28, .1911.

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CHARLES VALLONE, OF BUFFALO, NElV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO BARCALO MANUFAC-TURING COMPANY, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

SUPPORT FOR HINGED OR OTHER MOVABLE MEMBERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 28, 1911.

Application filed. December 11, 1909. Serial No. 532,533.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES VALLONE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Supports for Hinged or otherMovable lVlembers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to supports for the hinged or other movablemembers of articles of furniture which are adapted to support suchmembers in their extended position and are provided with releasing meanswhich are adapted to be operated by movement of the members to releasethe supports and permit the members to swing to their folded position. I

The object of this invention is to provide a support of this kind with asimple and efiective releasing device which can be readily operated andpositively insures the release of the support and permits the hingedmember to be swung easily from its extended to its folded positionwithout sudden or violent movement thereof and without jar or noise.

The support is intended more particularly for releasably supporting-thehinged sides of folding or convertible couches but its use is notlimited to these and it may be used in connection with various otherarticles of furniture and other devices having folding or hingedmembers.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure l is an inside elevation, partly insection, of one of the end frames of a folding couch provided withsupports embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary similar view,on an enlarged scale, showing by full and broken lines differentpositions of one of the hinged sides and its support. Fig. 3 is afragmentary sectional elevation in line 33, Fig. 2.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the several figures.

For convenience in description, the invention is shown in the drawingsas applied to the end frames of a folding or convertible couch. Theseend frames are of the usual angle-iron construction and each comprises atop cross-bar A, legs B B connected by a cross rod 6, and end bars C Cof the folding sides which are hinged to swing on the opposite ends ofthe top cross-bar A. The folding sides, when not in use, are

adapted to hang downwardly from the cross piece A at each side of thecouch. When it is desired to convert the couch into a bed, these sidescan be swung to a horizontal position to increase the width of the topof the couch. Couches of this character may be of various differentconstructions and this invention relates only to the supports which areemployed for holding these folding sides in their extended horizontalposition and the means employed for releasing the supports to permit thesides to be returned to their folded position. These parts areconstructed as follows: Each support comprises a metal supporting bar orbrace E which is pivoted at its outer end to the hinged end bar G and atits inner end passes loosely through a slot 6 in the side flange of theangle-iron leg B, in which it can be freely moved back and forth. It isprovided on its underside, near its inner end, with a notch 6 having anabrupt edge or shoulder which is adapted, when the side of the couch israised, to engage a locking shoulder 6 formed by the lower edge of theslot 6 to hold the side in its raised position.

For releasing the supporting bar from engagement with the shoulder c topermit the side of the couch to be lowered, the supporting bar E isprovided with a releasing member F which is preferably in the form of acircular disk and is pivoted eccentrically on one side of thebaradjacent to the notch 6 so that it is free to turn thereon andnormally extends below the lower edge of the bar. The slot 6 is ofsuficient width to permit the releasing member F and the bar E to passthrough the same. When the supporting bar is moved into its holdingposition, the shoulder 62 engages the releasing member F and swings thesame back out of the way so that it does not interfere with theengagement of the shoulder in the notch e. When it is desired to releasethe supporting bar, the side of the couch is raised above its horizontalposition to move the bar and releasing member through the slot to theposition shown in solid lines in Fig. 2, in which the edge of the notche is out of engagement with the shoulder e and the releasing member Frests upon this shoulder. The side of the couch may then be lowered toits folded position, the releasing member rolling on the shoulder c andlifting the supporting bar above the same, as shown in the broken linesin Fig. 2, so that the notch c clears the shoulder e and permits thereturn movement of the bar. The rolling movement of the releasing memberis caused by the friction between the same and the shoulder 6 upon whichit bears, and owing to the releasing member being eccentrically pivotedto the supporting bar, it acts to lift the bar in rolling over theshoulder 6 The releasing member thus acts by a lever or eccentric actionrather than by a cam or inclined plane action.

\Vhile the releasing member shown is an eccentrically pivoted circulardish, a pivoted lover of other form adapted to roll or rock on theshoulder a and lift the supporting bar in the manner described to clearthis shoulder, could be used.

The supporting bars can be readily released and the sides of the coucheasily lowered to their folded position WlthOUt any sudden or violentmovement thereof to effeet the release, and without any severe jar uponthe parts. The releasing member is positive in its operation andexceedingly simple and compact in its construction. No extra cooperatingparts are required upon the frame other than the slot and lockingshoulder, which are common in construe tions of this kind, and thesupport can thus be attached to couch frames of ordinary constructionwith a small amount of labor and expense.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination of a movable member,

a support therefor pivoted to the movable member and provided with aholding shoulder, a stationary part adapted to be engaged by the holdingshoulder, and a releasing device pivoted eccentrically on the supportand movable past said stationary part when said support is moved in onedirection, said device having a curved bearing portion which is adaptedto engage and roll upon said stationary part to lift the support toclear the holding shoulder from said stationary part when said supportis moved in an opposite direction, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a movable member, a support therefor pivoted tothe movable member and provided with a holding shoulder, a stationarypart adapted to be engaged by the holding shoulder, and a circular diskpivoted on the support and movable past the stationary part when thesupport is moved in one direction, the circumferential edge of said diskextending below said shoulder and adapted to bear against and roll uponsaid stationary part to lift said support to clear the holding shoulderfrom engagement with the stationary part when said support is moved inan opposite direction, substantially as described Witness my hand, this9th day of December, 1909.

CHARLES VALLONE, lVitnesses A. XV. KiR'roN, CHARLES L. HYsLoP.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

